Marvel Legends (Terrax Wave) Heroic Age Thor Review

It’s finally here! After being announced nearly a year-and-a-half ago at San Diego 2010, Marvel Legends is back on store shelves in all their 6” glory and with BAF pieces in tow. Our local TRU opened a fresh case this weekend and I happily snapped up Hasbro’s six-inch version of Thor.

Before I spotlight this figure in particular, I have to say I’m still at odds about Marvel Legends. Do I want to jump in with both feet and start amassing BAFs once again? Honestly, I have no particular fondness for Terrax as I’ve read little on the character, but the figure looks cool and I half-want most of this first wave. I knew that I’d have to make the call once I found them, but there I was, standing with my wife in the middle of TRU, not sure if I wanted to spend $18, $108, or $0.

I stood there looking at the Marvel Legends on the peg, all present except Vault’s Hope, and wasn’t sure what to do. I must have Steve Rogers, but I’d like to find the Electro-Shield. I like Ghost Rider, but I’ve heard mixed things. Constrictor is another I’d like to have. Klaw could be better.

My wife, ready to get a move on and go out to dinner, urged me to a decision. She didn’t like the $18 price tag (and neither did I, we should all have the patience for a store besides TRU to carry Legends), but it wasn’t the price causing my dilemma, it was really the rabbit hole. Am I going to be a Marvel Legends collector again? Could I be a casual collector, the kind of guy who can have BAF arms and heads and not feel compelled to get the rest? Do I just not like having money? Will there be a Bonnie to take all these Marvel figures off my hands when I die? (Cause, hey, my toys already survived my leaving for college years ago).

Meanwhile, back patiently waiting in reality, my wife is tugging on my arm.

I opted to avoid the larger BAF question and snagged one of my favorite new looks in the last couple years, the Heroic Age Thor. Thor is the seventh figure in the wave and doesn’t include a BAF piece. I guess Hasbro wants to offer something akin to Mattel’s All-Stars where popular characters are available independent of the BAF “collect them all” mentality. Works for me.

The best thing about Thor is his size though, as he’s kinda his own BAF. From online pictures, he appears to be about the same size as Terrax and, as you’ll see from my pics, he’s bigger than just about all the other Marvel Legends – he barely fits in the package! I had to laugh earlier because I had several recently opened figures on my desk including the MOTU Classics Demo-Man and Thor made him look like a shrimp. When a figure can make a big, chunky MOTU figure look small, well… that’s a big figure.

The figure’s sculpt is all-new, but this isn’t the first time Hasbro used it. This Thor was released with a lightning deco for SDCC 2011 (a pre-paint?). I kinda wanted that release, I loved the lighting effects and the hammer packaging, but the money I was spending on Swamp Thing, Marlena, & Stay-Puft kinda got in the way. If I’d known he was this big, I might have made a better effort at sparing some money his way.

The figure’s sculpt is all-new and does a great job of capturing Thor’s current look. The armored limbs, the tunic that takes cues from his classic look, and the billowing cape all look great. The important thing here is that nary a detail is painted on (well, except the two lowest silver circles, but they’re supposed to be). The piping, straps, and buckles are all sculpted pieces, and with the upper clasps/cape and the lower tunic and belt being add-on soft pieces – the figure really stands out at a time when buck bodies are becoming more commonplace. Continue to Page 2

36 comments to Marvel Legends (Terrax Wave) Heroic Age Thor Review

sigh. I’ve been debating if I’ll be picking up any Marvel Legends when they make it to my neck of the woods. More of a DC reader than a Marvel one (well, until they went and 52’ed it all up). I’ll still have to wait to see the whole first wave before deciding how much I’m in, but between this review, and Vault’s review of Hope, I have a feeling I’ll likely be wanting quite a few of these guys on my shelves…

you know, my one gripe on this one over the select version is the other hand… thor should sport a fist, which the select version has… the open hand, “would you care for a cocktail sir” waiter hand is just not thor.

that said, as i’d love to wade in on these, i’m holding off till they show somewhere other than TRU. i don’t get these mark-ups on marvel products, but it’s making me mad. i do enough business at TRU every year that this is kind of a slap in the face. so i’m waiting patiently.

I actually like the open hand. It him to beckon enemies to their inevitable smiting.

Also, an open hand allows for the classic poses where he raises an open hand forward as he’s priming for a hammer throw. That plus, the other pseudo-fist is enough for me to ensure a good variety of bludgeoning poses.

btw, found a lone IM at Sunset Hills TRU. balked, but ETC has them on pre-order, just across the River….
and I wasn’t aware this wave had any variants until I saw video reviews on youtube. Red flame GR is the only one I can see myself buying, tho.

Looks like Mattel will be getting a lot less money from me this year… They better bring something better than their A Game (on both DCU and MOTUC) cause 2012 is the year of the Epic toy battle for my Wallet and Hasbro’s boy toys division has brought their A Game… (The girl toys division caught me with MLP) and if Playmates wants to see some of MY green those Classic Turtles better not suck…

They really do need to step up in light of the return of ML. I love my DCUCs (most of ’em), but Hasbro’s making superior/compatible product is going to highlight the areas where Mattel is weak that much more.

But can some give me some damn rocker ankles? Or those new ball ankles where the ball is in the leg?! Something?

Have to go on record saying I’m not that fond of the current look of Thor (sue me. I live in the ’60s and ’70s I guess 🙂 ) but for saying that, I like that face better than the Select version.

I’m probably going to get Cap when I see him. Depending on the style I’ll bite for Fantastic Four. Give me a classic, decent sculpt for Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD and I’m in. Probably won’t happen as they seem to be pushing ‘current’ and ‘like the movie’ styling but hey, one can hope. I wager I’ll see the figures I just listed before I see The Forever People or Ram-Man from Mattel. 🙂

Eh? Disney stores? Dang, I never even considered… we’ve got one here in town, I’ll have to take a look. Chances are slim they’ll have anything but they also seem to never mark down stock that doesn’t move so, who knows. 🙂

It’s surprisingly hard to remember Disney now owns Marvel. So when does Hasbro start cranking out Muppet figures? (I joke but wouldn’t that be sweet?)

One thing I disliked about Toy Biz’s Legends were the paint washes and the articulation that sliced up the sculpt something fierce. Hasbro’s Legends are much nicer aesthetically.

Who am I hoping shows up in later waves? To be honest, I haven’t been keeping up with Marvel comics in a while, so I’ll place a safe bet and ask for “anyone who was in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3,” particularly Nova, X-23, and Taskmaster.

Which Nova, Rich or Frankie? Rich had a Hasbro ML already, in the Holocaust/”Nemesis” wave, while X-23 and Tasky were in the Toybiz Apocalypse and Legendary Riders waves, respectively, as well as more recent MU figures. I don’t see them getting ML singles any time soon, altho a team pack might happen (X-Force v4 or Avengers Initiative).

I appreciate the opening internal debate paragraphs. I keep having similar debates trying to leave the 3.75″ scale entirely, but GI Joe’s occasional awesome figure throws a wrench into my resolve.

SDCC Thor was honestly a figure that I would have passed up every other SDCC offering for, and he didn’t disappoint. As for Mjolnir’s strap, on the SDCC version you could unhook one of the straps at his waist and thread it through Mjolnir’s strap for carrying, it might still work for this one. Not the best, but it’s something. I actually can’t recall any Thor figure that could ever carry Mjolnir at the wrist, and I agree it would have been cool here.

Look like a very good start to Legends, but it is looking like many of the old Legends will not be very compatible based on that Capt/Thor pic. I only have a few left anyway, so no biggie for me. I hope they have a few more series to show at toy fair in a few weeks cause if the quality of the figures only gets better from here I think we could be on our way to some great figures. Hasbro’s original offering back in the day was pretty bad IMO but these new figures are making up for it.

Best Thor action figure evar? Yes. One thing that’s been really bothering me tho is the sticking it to the toy enthusiast consumer that Mattel/Hasbro has been doing. $18 retail for Thor? Any day. $18 retail for Klaw or Constrictor? You gotta be kidding me. Charging more money for significantly less product (AKA: the mysterious shrinking Extremis Iron Man) isn’t gonna keep me as a consumer. I’ll take my chances on most of these hitting the clearance bin before I shell out for an inferior product. I’ll bite for Thor and Hope Summers cuz they fit into my NECA and Marvel Select, but the rest won’t see my shelf. I know times are tough for toy companies but I sincerely encourage us as a consumer group to be more vocal about getting quality for our hard-earned cash. Isn’t that the point? They should be working hard to earn our cash? Seems like the majority of these are repaints on the smallest bucks they can find, yet charging premium (not to mention lack of accessories). If NECA can bring their A game every time for $13-15 retail, why can’t everyone else? We should accept no less. (end of rant)